China raises the banner of human rights

On November 1, 1991, the State Council Information Office published China's first white paper on human rights, “Human Rights in China”. It was a landmark document. Its publication signified that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government had officially raised the banner of human rights high. Whether it is democracy, freedom or human rights, they are not peculiar to some countries, but the rights of all peoples. Since then, China has been publishing more and more frequently comprehensive, thematic and informative white papers on human rights.

1. The first white paper on human rights brought human rights into mainstream public discourse in China

In the 30 years since the publication of the first white paper, along with China's reform and opening up and the building of the rule of law, and based on China's economic development and social progress, China's human rights cause has continued to achieve breakthroughs and historic achievements, and human rights have gradually entered the mainstream discourse in China.

Since its inception, the CPC has been holding high the banner of “fighting for democracy and human rights”. The 1991 white paper mentioned that although great achievements had been made in the protection and promotion of human rights, there was still much room for improvement, and it remained a long-term historical task for the Chinese people and the Chinese government to continue to promote the lofty goal of human rights.

In the past, human rights were once regarded as the discourse of the Western capitalist world. After the curtain of reform and opening up was raised, China emancipated its mind, sought truth from facts, integrated more quickly and better with the rest of the world, and gradually kept pace with the international community in the use of discourse. Since the end of the Cold War between East and West, the role of the United Nations in international human rights exchanges and cooperation has become more prominent. In both China and the international community, there is a trend towards mainstreaming human rights in legislation, policy-making and the implementation of laws and policies, as well as in the practice of human rights and the promotion of their realization. In response to this trend, the United Nations established the Human Rights Council in 2006 with the aim of strengthening the focus on and promotion of human rights, with security, development and human rights as its three pillars.

After the publication of China's first white paper on human rights in November 1991, it quickly attracted widespread attention in academic community as well as the broader international community. Public awareness of the rule of law and human rights continued to rise, and the cause of human rights in China entered a period of rapid development. Since the 15th CPC National Congress in 1997, respect for and protection of human rights have been written into the report of the party's National Congress; in 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress included “respect for and protection of human rights” in the Constitution of the Communist Party of China for the first time. In March 2004, China amended its Constitution to stipulate that “the country respects and protects human rights”, which laid a solid foundation for the further development of the human rights cause. In March 2012, the amended Criminal Procedure Law explicitly stipulated “respecting and safeguarding human rights” as a task of the Criminal Procedure Law. In addition, respecting and safeguarding human rights has been included in the outlines of every national economic and social development plan since the 11th Five-Year Plan, which has been considered and approved by the National People's Congress. Since April 2009, China has promulgated and implemented a total of four issues of the National Human Rights Action Plan. This is the most typical symbol of the mainstreaming of human rights, as it is a specific governmental plan on the theme of human rights, formulated and implemented by the central government in response to the call of the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in 1993. With clear measures and tasks, the National Human Rights Action Plan is a guiding document for the continuous progress of China's human rights cause.

In the 30 years since the first white paper on human rights was published, human rights have been incorporated into the CPC constitution and important party documents, the constitution and laws, policies and government work plans. Whether it is human rights discourse, human rights goals or human rights standards and human rights measures, the ultimate result is the entry of human rights into social life, so that ordinary people can better enjoy their rights and lead a good life.

2. The first white paper on human rights clearly stated the basic position of China's view of human rights

In this white paper, the Chinese government systematically elaborated on China's position on human rights. It begins by saying, “The enjoyment of full human rights is an ideal that has long been pursued by mankind.”

All people share the ideal. All peoples of the world pursue a better life. The concept of human rights, human rights standards, their interpretation and evaluation should not be dominated or monopolized by one or certain countries. There are many different ways to achieve the goal of human rights, and there is no simple model that can be copied or imposed on others.

In view of the increasing double standards and political confrontation in the field of human rights in the multilateral arena, such as the United Nations, and in bilateral relations with Western countries, the first white paper on human rights pointed out that “due to the great differences in the historical background, social systems, cultural traditions and economic development of countries, the understanding of human rights is often inconsistent and their implementation varies”; “Although human rights issues have an international dimension, they are primarily issues within the sovereignty of a country”; “The human rights situation in a country cannot be observed in isolation from the history of that country or in isolation from its national conditions; We cannot measure the human rights situation in a country according to a model or the situation of a particular country or region”. The white paper advocates a “pragmatic and realistic approach” in the field of human rights.

The first white paper made clear the primacy of the rights to survival. It said: “For a nation and a people, human rights are first and foremost the right of the people to live. Without the survival rights, all other human rights cannot be discussed.” Based on history and reality, in China, a developing country with a large population, as the title of the first part of the white paper stated, “The survival rights are the primary human rights for which the Chinese people have long been striving”.

The first white paper places importance and emphasis on the right to development, placing it alongside the survival rights. It echoes the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, reaffirming its provisions and stating that “human rights are both an individual and a collective right. This is a breakthrough of the traditional concept of human rights and the result of years of struggle by newly independent nations and the international community, which is of great significance”.

The right to survival and the right to development are two human rights concepts with rich connotations. They are more in line with the needs of the majority of developing countries to develop the cause of human rights and understand the goals, tasks and paths of human rights, and are more in line with reality. They can reflect better the people-centered view of human rights and governance. The people's well-being is the greatest human right. Focusing on the right to survival and the right to development, and making the continuous enhancement of the people's senses of gain, happiness and security as the goal and task of the human rights cause, is the embodiment of a people-centered view of human rights.

3. The enduring international advocacy of the first white paper on human rights

The white paper clearly spelt out China's position on human rights in the international community. It stated that China recognizes and respects the purposes and principles of the UN Charter for the protection and promotion of human rights, appreciates and supports the UN's efforts to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms in general, and actively participates in the UN's activities in the field of human rights. China advocates mutual respect for national sovereignty and gives priority to safeguarding the right to survival and development of the people of the vast majority of developing countries, thereby creating the necessary conditions for all human rights being enjoyed by people around the world. China opposes interference in the internal affairs of other countries on the pretext of human rights issues, and has made unremitting efforts to eliminate various anomalies and to strengthen international cooperation on human rights.

The correct concepts and propositions of the white paper have stood the test of history and practice. The white paper stressed that human rights issues are essentially matters within the domestic jurisdiction of a country, and that respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs are universally recognized norms of international law that apply to all areas of international relations, and naturally to human rights issues as well. China is firmly opposed to any country using human rights issues to promote its own values, ideology, political standards and development model, and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, especially the vast number of developing countries, on the pretext of human rights issues, which undermines the sovereignty and dignity of many developing countries.

In the light of the past and current practices of Western developed countries in the field of international human rights, we can see that the judgments and propositions of the white paper are still up to date and have been updated over the years. The white paper affirmed that China advocates strengthening international cooperation in the field of human rights on the basis of mutual understanding and seeking common ground while reserving differences; at the same time, the white paper stated that "China has always believed that it is not possible to deal with acts that endanger world peace and security, such as gross violations of human rights caused by colonialism, racism and foreign aggression and occupation, as well as apartheid, racial discrimination, genocide, the slave trade and human rights violations committed by international terrorist organizations. The international community should intervene and put an end to such serious violations of human rights as those caused by colonialism, racism and foreign invasion and occupation, as well as apartheid, racial discrimination, genocide, the slave trade and international terrorist organizations, and implement international protection of human rights. This is an important element in strengthening international cooperation in the field of human rights, and it is also a difficult task facing international human rights protection activities at present." To this day, these words still ring true.

4. China's historic achievements in human rights since the publication of the first white paper on human rights

According to the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Program, in 1980, at the beginning of the reform and opening up, China was a low human development country. Along with the reform and opening up, China became a medium human development country in 1995; from 2010 onwards China's HDI began to exceed the world average; and in 2011 China became a high human development country. Of the 47 countries that were in the low human development group in 1990 before the publication of the first white paper on human rights, China is the only country that has managed to enter the high human development group.

China's development must be based on China's reality. China's national conditions dictate that our development task is to move from solving the problem of food and clothing to basically building a moderately prosperous society and then moving towards building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. Under the leadership of the CPC, China has gone from focusing on economic construction for a long time, to emphasizing the equal importance of economic, political and cultural construction at the 16th CPC National Congress in 2002, to emphasizing the balance of economic, political, cultural and social construction at the 17th CPC National Congress in 2007, to formally proposing the construction of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization at the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. The connotation of people-centered development has been constantly enriched, and the path of development has been pragmatic. China has always identified the rights to survival and development the primary basic human right, and has grasped the key to the realization of human rights in China, so that the people can receive tangible benefits and the Chinese nation can fulfill its dream of standing up, getting rich and continuing to grow strong.

On July 1 this year, CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly proclaimed in Beijing that China had built a moderately prosperous society in all respects and we have brought about a historic resolution to the problem of absolute poverty in China. This is a monument to the development of human rights in China. The building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects has opened up a new era of comprehensive human rights protection. China's historic achievement is not only a contribution to the cause of human rights in the world, but also a great inspiration to the vast number of developing countries to follow their own path and achieve sustainable development and human rights protection.

In the 30 years since the publication of its first white paper on human rights, China has been true to its words and true to its deeds, insisting on combining the universal principles of human rights with China's reality, and successfully forging a path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics; actively engaged in equal and constructive exchanges and cooperation on human rights, participated in and promoted global human rights governance, and promoted the building of a community of shared future for humanity. China holds high the banner of human rights, firmly and distinctly.

Contributed by Liu Huawen, Executive director and researcher of Center for Human Rights Study, CASS

Translated by Wang Ruoxin